Entrepreneur focuses on the details

Joede Brown of Manchester has found freedom in running two of her own businesses, despite sometimes working long hours.

For some entrepreneurs, running one business is tough enough. For Joede Brown, knitting her two passions together drives her forward.

The Manchester resident has nearly 30 years of accounting experience. She decided to further her education while working for the local school district, thinking a master’s degree would lead to additional opportunities. But
as she neared graduation, Brown realized she wanted to work for herself.

After graduating from Southern New Hampshire University last May, she founded Brown & Associates, a financial advice firm where she helps businesses decipher their books and understand how they actually operate.

Brown said she has always had a mind for numbers and detail — at 16, she was closely reading the tax codes she was tasked with updating during a summer job at a staff judge advocate’s office. That meticulousness also serves her well in her side knitwear business, Foliage, where she creates bespoke clothing and accessories.

The work can be tough, especially during tax season, when Brown said she sometimes works 12-, 15-hour days. But being able to do it at home while in her fuzzy slippers and knowing she can step away to take care of her personal life when needed makes it worthwhile, she said.

“It’s the freedom of being able to be there for my family and still be able to provide for us, but also the freedom of being able to run it how I want to,” Brown said.

The two businesses could not be more different.

In her accounting work, Brown’s clients can range from a retail consignment business to a wellness-based service and a contractor. None of their needs are ever alike; the retail business, for example, has a high number of transactions and complex vendor payouts, so Brown created for them an accounting system that would properly track liabilities and cash flow. The wellness business needed a structure that would support both its daily operations and tax reporting.

Sometimes, people are surprised about what the books show when they sit down with Brown.

“When someone looks at their bank account, they think that (what is in there) is what they made, but it’s really not, because you have obligations that come out of it,” Brown said. “You have payroll, things like that, and hopefully you have a separate payroll account.”

Brown would chalk that up to a lack of financial education in school systems. Even with her background, she said it was surprising to see how much infrastructure a personal business can require, like software licenses and subscriptions to video meeting platforms to speak with
remote clients, when starting her own.

“I was fortunate enough that I already knew what I was doing, so I was already putting money aside to say, ‘OK, I know I need this, and I need that,’” she said.

Foliage requires a different kind of infrastructure. Brown will visit sheep and wool festivals to source unique colors, usually inspired by the colors of the White Mountains and the Kancamangus Highway in fall. Those skeins in turn get made into scarves, sweaters, dusters and hats.

Joede Brown, who has founded a booking business and knitware company, says she’s always been meticulous.

It requires a different kind of preparation, too. While Brown offers her wares year-round through her online shop, her prime venue is through different markets and craft fairs, so she builds up her inventory throughout the seasons. Individual commissions can be made upon request.

It is, in a way, fitting — Foliage got its name in part because of a revelation Brown had when she turned 50 in 2021.

“One thing I was noticing was that once you turn 50, it just seems like nobody takes you seriously. You’re kind of ignored, you know, it’s just like a different way of moving in the world,” she said.

But Brown was also noticing that her friends of a similar age were trying new things and feeling better than they had ever before. It made her think about the life cycle of leaves.

“What people don’t realize is that the leaves are actually dying. They’re aging, and they’re dying off, right?” she said. “But yet when they are aging, they’re coming right to that twilight stage — they’re absolutely beautiful.”